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Attitude Formation and Change

Overview

  • Investigates the relationship between thoughts (attitudes) and actions (behaviors).
  • Central question: Does what we think affect what we do, or does what we do affect what we think?
      - Key Insight: Attitudes affect actions, and actions affect attitudes.

Definitions of Attitudes

  • Attitude: Feelings often influenced by beliefs, predisposing reactions to objects, people, and events.
      - Example: Belief that someone is threatening leads to feelings of fear and anger, resulting in defensive behavior.

Methods for Changing Attitudes

  • Various strategies for influencing or changing attitudes explored within the study of psychology.
1. Persuasion
  • Two approaches to persuasion:
      - Central Route Persuasion:
        - Involves direct arguments and factual information.
        - Trigger careful and thoughtful consideration.
        - Example: Climate-change activists must use facts about global warming.
        - Data Presentation:
          - Monthly temperature divergence since 1880.
          - Illustration of temperature changes from 1880 to 2023 indicating clear trends in global temperature rise.
      - Peripheral Route Persuasion:
        - Based on indirect cues like attractive visuals or emotional appeals.
        - Trigger emotional responses and snap judgments rather than analytical thinking.
2. Mere Exposure Effect
  • Definition: The more one is exposed to something, the more one may come to like it.
      - Application in advertising: Frequent exposure is presumed to improve liking for the product.
3. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
  • Explains how attitudes can change unconsciously based on actions and external motivations.
  • Experiment by Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith (1950s):
      - Step 1: Two groups perform a boring task.
      - Step 2: Group 1 paid $1 to falsely report enjoyment of the task, while Group 2 paid $20.
      - Step 3: Both groups rate enjoyment of the task.
        - Findings: Group 1 (paid $1) had more positive attitudes compared to Group 2 (paid $20).
        - Explanation: Group 1 lacked sufficient justification for lying (the $1 was too small), leading them to unconsciously adjust their attitudes towards the task to resolve cognitive dissonance.
      - Dissonance: Mental tension experienced when one's beliefs clash with actions.

Implications of Cognitive Dissonance

  • Key Ideas:
      - Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is inconsistency between two cognitions (thoughts).
      - Example: Feeling bored but claiming the task was interesting.
      - This leads to an attitude change to reduce the discomfort caused by the dissonance.

Predicting Behavior from Attitudes

  • Disconnection between Attitudes and Behaviors:
      - Attitudes do not perfectly predict behavior.
      - Research Example: Richard LaPiere (1934) studied treatment of Chinese patrons in U.S. restaurants.
        - Despite positive treatment during visit, over 90% of businesses later claimed they would refuse service to Chinese individuals, illustrating misalignment between stated attitudes and actual behaviors.
  • Conclusion: Behaviors are often more influenced by situational factors than personal beliefs.

Compliance Strategies

  • Techniques to encourage compliance with requests:
1. Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
  • If a small request is granted, individuals are more likely to agree to a larger follow-up request.
2. Door-in-the-Face Strategy
  • After a large request is turned down, individuals may be more inclined to agree to a subsequent smaller request, perceiving it as more reasonable.
3. Social Reciprocity Norm
  • Norm stating that if someone does something favorable for another, the latter feels an obligation to reciprocate.
4. Social Responsibility Norm
  • The belief that individuals should act in ways that contribute positively to society and improve the world around them.